1968 Breilting Navitimer 816 ‘Tri-compax’

The manual-wind sibling to the Navitimer Chrono-Matic 1806, a Venus cal. 178 mounted in the same revolutionary EPSA Piquerez "Big Case."  Huge for the period at 48mm diameter, its complex bezel mechanism allows high waterproof ratings.

The Navitimer ref. 816 has "Big Eyes" hour and minute counters and "running seconds" at 9; red accents feature on both dial and slide rule; logos are "Twin Jet" for Breitling-distributed Navitimer.

The watch is accompanied by its original cardboard box as well as a Breitling Extract from the Archives.

The manual wind versions of the Navitimer were made in much smaller quantities than the automatic versions, making this a collectable timepiece from the era.

• Caliber: Venus 178

• Case: EPSA "Big Case", waterproof, ca. 48mm diameter

• Bezel: aluminium rotating bezel

• Dial: black with silver-white "Big Eye" subdials, red accents on dial and slide rule

• Hands: wide lumed baton hands, red chrono sweep, rabbit-ears subdial hands

Condition

This Navitimer is in honest vintage condition.  The case appears to have been lightly polished. The engravings on the outer caseback have become faint from use / polishing, however the model number ‘816’ and the serial number are still visible.

The black dial has developed patina and is in overall very nice condition. The dial shows some patina around certain luminous numerals from slight deterioration of the tritium material. The orange painted hands show some slight patina but remain very vibrant.

The bezel is in excellent condition and rotates freely. The plexiglass is largely free of scratches. The dial, case, crown, and movement are signed by Breitling.

From our internal testing, the movement is running very strongly and accurately gaining just 3 seconds a day with an amplitude of 334, indicating a recent service / cleaning.

For shipping purpose: we can mark lower values at the Buyer’s request. We ship with discrete packaging.